From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

Gear

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Owing to the fact that Tom Robbins is one of the best American writers, I am dedicating an entire (nearly) blog entry to his wisdom, and his concise cataloging of the various ignorance’s that shield our eyes from seeing the truth of life.Some of them self imposed, some placed by others.Below, you shall find the truth that lies behind the seven veils, which when peeled away during the dance, allows us the chance to take control once again.

Veil #1: Earth, the planet, is a feminine creature.Males have attempted to compensate for this by creating patriarchal religious systems and society.

Veil #2: Human beings DO NOT have dominion over plants and animals.We like to pretend we are outside of or above nature, but we are not.

Veil #3: Many, if perhaps not all, our problems are caused by politics, politics can not solve our problems.Our struggles go beyond race, classes, colorful flags, systems of beliefs, etc etc, they harbor in the vastness of the search, both inward and outward, for the divine within and without.

Veil #4: Religion is not the answer.Once you take the divine and create a system around it, it no longer is divine.

Veil #5: Money is an illusion.

Veil #6: We live life NOW, in the present moment.People sacrifice the present for the future or live the present crying of the past.

Veil #7: You have to do it yourself.

When these seven veils fall to the floor and there you stand naked, you might find life is harder (in that you begin thinking for yourself, you begin realizing that the answers don’t lie out somewhere else, that you shouldn’t sit around waiting for tomorrow when its today), but the sweet rewards are worthwhile.

Anywho, since we have numbers on the brain like a sizzling tofu scramble on a hot iron skillet, lets get down to the final four.

The Final Four – A brief summarization of the four major projects I am, will, and/or plan to concentrate on for the remaining time of my Peace Corps service in the Republic of Cape Verde, a small island nation consisting of ten islands, nine of which are inhabited, and many islets and sits roughly 500km off the western coast of Dakar, Senegal in Afrika. (You might be asking yourself why I spell Afrika with a “k” and not a “c”.Well, it is only our fickle English language that uses the letter “c” in the spelling of Afrika, whereas in all Afrikan languages they use the letter “k” or its equivalent).

1 – Bike Project.Still working on building up the funds, so now not only can you buy a normal cotton shirt, a recycled shirt, but you can get a recycled messenger bag too with the awesome Cape Verde Bicycle Organization logo!!!!! Holy Sweetness!!!!Here are all the links you will ever need to buy and donate money to this project:

2 – Protected Area status for Carberinho.The report is nearly finished and then it goes to the head honchos in Praia where we hope that politics (see above) works its magic to declare this beautiful and important area a protected area.

3 – English help for high school students.Beginning soonish I will give English help for those students who take English classes in high school.I think this is a productive way to use my wondrous English skills to help those trying to emanate me.

4 – Knitting/Crotchet/whatever it’s called.In the infant stage, this project hopes to join some wonderful people back in the states who have already collected yarn or other knitting supplies, along with soon to be future suppliers in the states with some local women here to give workshops on how to make knitted (or whatever it’s called) crafts to develop a sustainable means of income.Naturally, more on this to come as it develops and blooms.

So, once again, there you have it.With all those pagan oriented religious holidays coming round the corner, what could make that special someone happier than a squirrel invited to Thanksgiving dinner than a Cape Verde Bike shirt and messenger bag.Nothing.Absolutely nothing.Well, maybe donating a whole bunch of money to the bike project too.But besides that, nothing.

PS: A shout out to my brother from another mother, Melissa, who is sporting some bike project advertising on her blog, http://paradoxish.blogspot.com.She also puts up some great info on environmental topics, political stuff, and other things that work to remove the veils of ignorance.Rumor has it she also sells collector sports memorabilia on ebay,